Photo Editor — Editorial OS

GitHub · Download v1.0.1 · Apache 2.0

Post-shoot metadata pipeline that makes every image self-identifying. Embeds XMP/IPTC metadata directly into image files via ExifTool — products, rights, dates, and tracking IDs become part of the file itself.

Six months later, someone finds a stray TIFF and ExifTool tells them everything: what's in it, who owns it, how it can be used, and when it expires.

Install

1. Download photo-editor-v1.0.1.zip
2. Unzip into your working directory
3. Run /setup in Claude — the agent installs and verifies ExifTool and Python dependencies

Or clone the repo:

git clone https://github.com/EditorialOS/photo-editor.git

Two ways to run the same pipeline

Agent-operated (Cowork). An AI teammate with an identity (teammate.md), skills (skills/), standing orders, and an append-only memory runs the workflow conversationally. It handles the messy edge — your shoot list can be a CSV, an Excel export, a doc, or a pasted email — and normalizes it into strict look files, showing you a proposal you confirm before anything is written.

Deterministic (CLI/cron). runtime/runtime.py runs the identical pipeline on the identical folders with zero inference and zero dependencies beyond Python's standard library. This is the overnight watcher and the no-agent fallback. Same look files, same ExifTool config, same results.

The division of labor is the design: intelligence at intake, determinism at embed. The agent may propose; only validated look files ever drive what gets written into an image. Rights are never inferred — stated, asked, or defaulted, and anything the agent did infer stays flagged needs_review in every audit until a human clears it.

How it works

1. Ingest — hand over any shoot source. The agent proposes look files; you confirm. (Or: runtime.py ingest-shoot {id} {file.csv} for zero-inference CSV ingest.)
2. Tag — for each look with a matching image folder, embed all metadata into every image. First tag preserves the pristine original as an ExifTool _original backup.
3. Audit — orphan images (fingerprinted), rights conflicts, expiring rentals, unreviewed inferences.
4. Archive — close the shoot and move to long-term storage.

Commands

Command	What it does
/setup	First-run onboarding — the agent installs and verifies everything
/ingest-shoot {id}	Normalize any shoot source into look files (with confirmation)
/tag-shoot {id}	Embed metadata into all untagged images
/audit-shoot {id}	Check for orphans, rights issues, expirations, unreviewed inferences
/archive-shoot {id}	Close and archive a completed shoot
/find-image {tracking_id}	Reverse lookup by tracking ID
/find-product {sku}	Find every image containing a SKU

Every command has a deterministic CLI equivalent — see standing_orders.md.

What gets embedded

Standard fields (readable by Bridge, Lightroom, any DAM):

• XMP-dc:Identifier — unique tracking ID per image
• XMP-dc:Subject / IPTC:Keywords — SKU list + theme
• XMP-dc:Rights — rights summary
• XMP-dc:Description — product descriptions

Custom namespace (editorialOS:, defined once in exiftool/editorialos.config):

• lookId, shootId, trackingId, skus, productTypes, rights, theme, availableDates, notes
• productData — the full product records as JSON, including every extra column from your source spreadsheet. Granular info travels inside the image.

Requirements

• ExifTool on the host — a double-click installer from exiftool.org (or brew install exiftool)
• Python 3.9+; the MCP server needs pip install -r server/requirements.txt. The CLI runtime needs nothing.
• Or just run /setup and let the agent handle it.

Files

File	Purpose
teammate.md	Agent identity and voice
standing_orders.md	Operating cadence, naming conventions, backup policy
skills/	Seven skill files — the procedures, in markdown
commands/	Slash-command entry points
data/client_config.md	Brand defaults, paths, namespace config
data/rights_templates.md	Rights level definitions and rules
exiftool/editorialos.config	The custom XMP namespace — persistent, checked in
server/photo_editor_mcp.py	MCP server wrapping ExifTool (5 tools)
runtime/runtime.py	Deterministic CLI — the no-agent fallback and cron watcher
OPERATOR_GUIDE.md	The non-coder runbook
logbook.md / decision_log.md	Append-only memory: history and open flags
work/shoots/F26_DEMO/	Sample fixture with a fictional brand — try the pipeline on it

Try it in two minutes

/setup
/ingest-shoot F26_DEMO        (point it at work/shoots/F26_DEMO/shot_list.csv)

Drop any JPG copies into work/shoots/F26_DEMO/images/AV_NG_F26_DEMO_SUIT_1/, then:

/tag-shoot F26_DEMO
/audit-shoot F26_DEMO

Open a tagged image in Adobe Bridge, or run exiftool -config exiftool/editorialos.config -a -G1 -s <image> — the look, SKUs, rights, and full product JSON are inside the file.

---

## Install

As a Claude Code plugin (run in the Claude Code terminal):

```
/plugin marketplace add https://github.com/EditorialOS/editorial-os.git
/plugin install photo-editor@editorialos
```

Or download the release zip for standalone/CLI use — see the [latest release](https://github.com/EditorialOS/photo-editor/releases).

If the README already documents zip/clone installation elsewhere, leave that documentation where it is — this section supplements it.

  ## License

Apache 2.0 — see LICENSE.